


Super-Max: Future Imperfect

by EHC



Series: Tales of Super-Max [5]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Cyberpunk AU, Gen, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:15:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHC/pseuds/EHC
Summary: In a nearly dystopian future where the Corporations have taken over, where lives are cheap and profit is king, where the world believes there are no more heroes left, a long-forgotten one emerges to prove the world wrong.





	Super-Max: Future Imperfect

**Author's Note:**

> Updated July 14, 2019: changed the title from What If...? which I was never satisfied with in the first place but couldn't think of anything else at the time.

It was an auspicious start to an audacious plan.

The ultimate question had always been: what to do about those damn super-powered freaks that always seemed to get in the way of progress, R&D, and, most importantly, profit? Couldn't just shoot them: too many of the damn things were bulletproof, not to mention outright shooting people tended to turn the public against you. A smear campaign had been proposed but deemed too unwieldy. Sure, they could find/invent enough evidence to bury even the staunchest of heroes but do that against too many and eventually, the government would start getting suspicious.

Okay, then, get the government on your side. Bribing Reps and Senators was practically the bread and butter of half the corporations out there. Easy, right? The problem there was the government branch of supers. They're the ones that had done the most overall good for the general public: cleaning the air, combating water pollution, fighting wildfires, etc. Completely altruistic, there wasn't a single damn thing anyone could argue about on that front. Oh, no! The supers have managed to clean the Chesapeake Bay! How evil! We must stop them!

Yeah, that'd go over like a lead balloon.

That led to the wetwork solution. It'd take a lot of advance planning but it was certainly doable: study up on a super, discover weaknesses; isolate and attack; cover-up; rinse, repeat. At least, that was the idea.

Unfortunately, the chosen target was proving to be quite the difficult proposition.

He had selected this one out of a batch of dozens as she was retired from the hero business and had been out of the limelight for long enough to not be missed when she went missing. The issue was she was invulnerable to damage. And according to all his accumulated research, she was invulnerable to everything, and that wasn't an exaggeration. Bullets, fire, explosions, acid, rare metals, extreme cold, according to his research, none of that had ever worked. Thinking that she'd at least need to breath led to a failed experiment where carbon monoxide was pumped into her home. It hadn't done shit. The only thing that resulted was, when the levels of the gas reached fatal levels for normal people, she woke up.

Still, that one experiment led to this concept: an isolation chamber buried a mile under ground. In it would be a temperature regulated hibernation capsule which would feed the subject a strictly ratioed amount of oxygen and sleeping agent. Nowhere near enough to be fatal (which would trigger her powers and force her to wake) but more than enough to keep her asleep, until such time as they could uncover a way to counteract her invulnerability. Soundproofed, reinforced, water and airtight, far enough from the city to never be accidentally uncovered but close enough that transportation wouldn't be a logistical nightmare, all that was left was implementation.

So, one Thursday evening, his team got to work. Bypassed the joke of a security system (it was his employers', amusingly enough). Crept into the rented home. Administered enough of the sleeping agent to ensure that she and the other two women with her would be sufficiently unconscious. Carefully bundled her up. Mask placed over her face with more of the gas to ensure she stayed asleep. Taken from the home. Transported to the chamber. Mask removed, then sealed into the capsule. Elevator taken back to the surface, then powered down.

It was a success. The chamber and capsule's life support system was powered by a microfusion reactor capable of running at max capacity for 100 years. But with as little juice as was needed for this experiment, it'd likely last close to 800, give or take. That meant the soon-to-be-forgotten super in the chamber would be out of their hair for quite some time. And the two women that were with her?

One application of carbon monoxide gas to each and one staged fire later, and that potential loose end was eliminated.

* * *

March 2023 - In the dead of night, unknown assailants abduct a young woman from her home and take her to parts unknown. She is never seen again.

April 2023 - Despite the success of the testing phase, due to the associated cost, the wetwork plan is never implemented full-scale. The mastermind behind the project, as well as the members of the team responsible for the test, are quietly eliminated in a series of "accidents" to prevent leaks. The location of the chamber dies with the mastermind, however, as he never took notes, physical or digital.

July 2023 - Head executives finally call off the search for the isolation chamber, considering it a waste of resources. If the super in question ever reappears, they've scrubbed all evidence of their involvement, so they're safe from reprisal.

2027 - In an effort to prevent more supers from being born, an experimental retrovirus is released into the atmosphere.

2028 - Birthrates worldwide plummet, supers included.

2031 - No new recorded births. Worldwide panic ensues.

2032 - A cure is discovered. Corporations, with government backing, control the distribution of the cure to those deemed fit.

2035 - Popular protests against the draconian distribution of the cure results in mass riots worldwide. Government crackdowns ensue.

2052 - Both, the general public and the governments, weakened by years of fighting, fall prey to the corporations, who had been quietly fueling the conflict from both sides. The Corps take over, promising a brighter future to come.

2053 - Corps announce a breakthrough and are able to mass-produce the cure to the public at large. The retrovirus is eliminated.

2055 - Citing immediate need, Corps eliminate all environmental protections to rebuild as quickly and efficiently as possible.

2057 - The first megacity is planned: Neo York

2065 - Neo York is officially completed, though construction will be constant throughout it's entire existence, owing to the cheap materials used in the majority of it.

2066 - Through cooperation between all major Corps, The Quantum Net launches, the next level version of the internet. It allows users constant access to information and, more importantly, ads.

2066 - That same year, true neural cybernetic integration becomes a reality. Now, users can plug directly into the QN. Consequently, Corps can feed their ads directly to their users.

2069 - The truce between all the Corps begins to fragment as they all begin competing on a global scale with one another.

2073 - Seeing an opportunity, one Corp begins offering space tours and announces plans to build a lunar colony. Interest skyrockets.

2074 - Other Corps follow suit. The next space race begins.

March 2079 - A massive earthquake hits the west coast of the United States, causing massive damage to Neo Angeles.

March 2079 - Aftershocks cause minor structural damage to a forgotten isolation chamber buried 20 miles east of Neo Angeles.

April 2079 - Water begins seeping to the isolation chamber through cracks in the walls.

November 2079 - The water level in the isolation chamber rises above the hibernation capsule.

December 2079 - The seal on the hibernation capsule, not designed to be watertight as that was the job of the chamber itself, fails. Water seeps into the capsule.

December 19, 2079. 8:23 PM. - Max Caulfield wakes up.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, seriously, I have no idea where the hell this came from. All I was doing was thinking about Super-Max and how her time powers might grant her immortality, and then this happened.
> 
> A cyberpunk/superhero mashup? Has that ever been done before? I have no clue. I also don't even know if I'll ever write any more in this proposed AU, even though I have a few ideas. It was more of me wanting to evacuate it from my brain to clear up space for more Worthy ideas. However, I thought it, I wrote it, and now, it's out there for everyone to read and mock at your leisure.
> 
> Take care!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Priorities](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19820977) by [simpletextadventure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpletextadventure/pseuds/simpletextadventure)




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